Liquid applicator



Dec. 22, 1942. A, g, RI C IE 2,305,899

LIQUID APPLICATOR Filed o t. 11. 1941 INVENTOR 1'ATTCRNEYS- metic.

Patented Dec. 22, 1942 LIQUID APPLICATOR Albert E. Ritchie, Hamburg, N.

Wildroot 00., Inc., Buffalo, N.

of New York Y., assignor to Y., a corporation Application October 11, 1941, Serial No. 414,616

3 Claims.

This invention relates to an applicator whereby liquid discharged from a container may be spread over the surface intended to receive said liquid such for example as a liquid dressingor cosmetic for treating or polishing finger nails or dispensing mucilage, paste or the like. An applicator of this type is shown in Letters Patent of the United States No. 1,593,025 and No. 1,919,- 859, and the present invention relates to an improvement on these prior patents.

It has been found that these .earlier applicators are only suitable for applying and spreading mucilage and like heavy liquid materials on the surfaces of wood, paper and the like inasmuch as such liquids are very viscous. and flow very sluggishly but these applicators are not suitable for dispensing a cosmetic or liquid dressing for finger nails or the like consisting mainly of alcohol because the latter is very limpid and cannot be perfectly sealed against leakage or evaporation from its container when the same is not in use or stored.

The object of this invention is to, provide an applicator of this character which is so constructed that the passage through which the liquid is discharged from the container will be securely sealed so that liquid cannot escape when the applicatcr is not in use and particularly when the container and applicator are packed in an inverted position while being shipped or stored but which permits of a ready flow of the liquid when the applicator is used and which enables the liquid to be readily and uniformly distributed over the surface to be treated particularly when this surface is of convex form, such as the nails of fingers which are to be In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the applicator embodying this invention and shown in connection with a container having the form of a bottle.

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section of the applicator and the upper part of a container, on an enlarged scale.

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of the same.

Fig. 4 is a horizontal section taken on line 4-4, Fig. 2.

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section taken on line 55, Fig. 2.

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary vertical transverse section similar to Fig. 5 but showing the applicator and container inverted and the applicator engaged with the nail of a finger preparatory to applying a liquid thereto.

Fig. 7 is a view similar to Fig. 6 but showing dressed by a limpid cos-- and the side wall of which is provided on its the positions of the parts on the discharge end of the applicator when the latter is pressed against a finger nail during the operation of applying a liquid thereto and distributing the liquid over the outer convex surface thereof.

Fig. 8 is a fragmentary vertical longitudinal section of the applicator and container and a guard applied to the applicator for preventing the outlet of the applicator from being opened while the same is being shipped and stored.

In the following description similar reference characters indicate like parts in the several figures of the drawing:

Although this applicator is capable of being used for dispensing and distributing various kinds of flowing or liquid materials which may be supplied thereto from a container of any suitable construction the same, for example, is shown in connection with a bottle in which is stored a supply of liquid adapted for cleaning and polishing finger nails and consisting mainly of alcohol and a cleansing and polishing agent. This bottle comprises a body it! and a discharge neck ll provided at its outer end with an annular external collar l2.

In general the applicator comprises a lower cylindrical section or cap l3 of comparatively large diameter and an upper cylindrical section or stem M of comparatively small diameter projecting upwardly from the top of the cap and made integrally therewith from elastic or flexible rubber or similar material.

On its underside the cap is formed with a downwardly opening socket or cavity the top [5 of which rests on the upper end of the bottle neck interior with an upper annular channel 16 which receives the collar 12 of the bottle neck and a lower inwardly projecting flange I? which surrounds the reduced neck of the bottle and engages with the underside of its collar, whereby upon stretching the cap over the neck and collar and releasing the same the applicator will be reliably secured to the bottle and a leak tight joint produced between the same.

The stem of the applicator is of cylindrical form in cross section and is provided at its upper or outer end with an inclined spreading face l8 so that the stem has a comparatively short or low wall l9 on one end of the length of this face and a comparatively long or high wall 20 on the opposite end of said inclined face.

The numeral 2| represents a vertical slit formed in the outer or upper end of the stem in a plane extending lengthwise of the inclined spreading face and intersecting the high and low parts of the same so as to form two flexible wiping blades 22 on transversely opposite sides of the longitudinally inclined face of the stem. These blades are normally pressed inwardly against each other, due to the resilience of the elastic material from which the applicator is made so as to close the slit 2| between them, as shown in Figs. 4, 5 and 6, but when the upper end of the stem is pressed against a surface, these blades will be spread apart crosswise of the stem and form a gap in the slit between their opposing inner sides, as shown in Fig. 7.

Formed lengthwise in the stem is a liquid delivery duct 23 which serves to conduct liquid from the container to the spreading face of the applicator and opens at its lower end into the upper end of the socket or cavity in the cap while its upper end opens into the lower part of the slit 2| of the stem.

When no lengthwise pressure is applied to the outer or upper end of the stem and the wiping blades 22 engage each other, the slit 2i is closed, as shown in Figs. 5 and 6, and no liquid can escape from the delivery ducts 23 but when these blades are pressed endwise against a surface these blades will be spread apart and form a gap between the slitted inner sides thereof, thereby uncovering the outer end of the duct, as shown in Fig. '7, thereby permitting liquid to flow from the container, through the cap, stem and slit to the surface engaged by the blades and treating the surface. While the blades are thus separated the liquid flowing out of the gap between them may be distributed over different parts of the surface to be treated by moving the applicator back and forth as often as desired in the manner of using a paint brush or burnishing tool. The instant that the applicator is disengaged from the surface being treated the resilient blades are automatically engaged with each other, thereby stopping the further escape of liquid from the container and applicator.

When using this applicator for applying a cleansing, polishing or beautifying liquid to a nail 24 of a finger the inclined spreading face I8 is curved concavely crosswise of this face so as to conform to the crosswise convex shape of the finger nail, as shown in Figs. 6 and 7, and permit of applying the liquid more efficiently and economically on the nail and also spreading the same over the nail more quickly and uniformly.

Due to forming the slit in the outer end of the stem lengthwise of the inclined spreading surface the outermost ends of the blades due to their small cross-section are weakest and therefore permit starting of the operation of separating these blades to be effected easily and the complete separation of the same to be accomplished quick- 1y, this rendering the use of this applicator expeditious and convenient.

For the purpose of avoiding excessive discharge of liquid from the applicator the discharge duct 23 is made comparatively small and thus prevents flooding the surface being treated with too much liquid and wasting the same.

In order to permit of reliably spreading the blades into an open position and holding the same in this position while the applicator is in use, that part of the stem adjacent to the high parts of the blades is made comparatively thin and limber, as shown at 25 in Figs. 2, 4 and 8, while that part adjacent to the low part of the blades is made comparatively thick and stiff, as shown at 26 in the same figure, thereby enabling the applicator to be easily opened and held reliably in an open positionwhile the applicator is in use. This is preferably accomplished by arranging the discharge duct 23 eccentrically in the stem and nearer to the long front wall 20 of the stem and farther from the rear short wall I9 of the same, as shown in Figs. 2, 4 and 8.

In order to prevent the blades of the stem from being spread and permit escape of liquid from the container while being shipped or stored and particularly when the container is turned upside down, means are provided for holding the blades of each applicator tightly together and also prevents the exertion of any end pressure against the same which would tend to open the duct and permit escape of the liquid from the container. The preferred means for this purpose consists of a guard 21 of tubular form made of stiff. paper or like material which is placed around the stem of the applicator and preferably engaged frictionally therewithandbearing at its lower end against the upwardly facing shoulder 28 formed on the exterior of the applicatorbetween the top of the cap and the lower end of the stem while the upper end of this guard projects above the upper end of the neck, as shown in Fig. 8. When the guard is thus applied to the stem of the applicator the blades will be held tightly together and prevent the escape of liquid while the container is in an upright position, as shown in Fig. '8, and when the container and. applicator are inverted, the weight of the same will cause the top of the cap to be compressed, between the end of the bottle neck and the lower end of the tubular guard to prevent leakage of liquid from the container at this point and the weight of the container and applicator will be prevented from exerting an end pressure against the blade and possibly opening the same sufficiently to permit escape of some liquid from the container because the weight of the container and applicator at such a time would be supported on the upper end of the guard resting against the adjacent surface.

I claim as my invention:

1. A flexible liquid applicator for a container having a discharge neck, comprising a cap adapted to receive said neck, and a distributing-stem having its inner end connected with said cap and provided at its outer end with an inclined spreading face and also with a longitudinal slit the plane of which intersects the high and low parts of said inclined face, and said stem having a duct extending from the interior of said cap to said slit. thereby forming two flexible blades on opposite sides of said slit which, upon being pressed against a surface, will be spread apart and open the outer end of said duct to permit liquid to flow from said container to the inclined spreading surface of the distributing stem.

2. A flexible liquid applicator for a container having a discharge neck, comprising a cap adapted to receive said neck, and a distributing stem having its inner end connected with said cap and provided at its outer end with an inclined spread ing face and also with a longitudinal slit the plane of which intersects the high and low parts of said inclined face, and said stem having a duct extending from the interior of said cap to said 1 slit, thereby forming two flexible blades on opposite sides of said slit which, upon being pressed against a surface, will be spread apart and open the outer end of said duct to permit liquid to flow from said container to the inclined spreading surface of the distributing stem and said cap having a comparatively large socket to fit over the neck of a container and a relatively thin wall to spring over said neck and the duct of said stem being of comparatively small diameter and a part of the wall around said duct being comparatively thick for the purpose of rendering the unslitted part of the stem stifif While the slitted part is flexible.

3. A flexible liquid applicator for a container having a discharge neck, comprising a cap adapted to receive said neck, and a distributing stem having its inner end connected with said cap and provided at its outer end With an inclined spreading face and also with a longitudinal slit the plane of which intersects the high and low parts of said inclined face, and said stem having a duct extending from the interior of said cap to said slit, thereby forming two flexible blades on opposite sides of said slit which, upon being pressed against a surface, will be spread apart and open the outer end of said duct to permit liquid to flow from said container to the inclined spreading surface of the distributing stem, said duct being arranged eccentrically in said stern and nearer to the longest side of the same so that the adjacent portion of the stem is more flexible and farther from the short side of the stem and so that the shorter side of the stem is stiffer and enables said blades to be readily bent under pressure.

ALBERT E. RITCHIE. 

